Advocacy

• The Center, The Colorado GLBT Center
• Rainbow Alley Programs, Youth drop-in center
• GLSEN, Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educational Network

Advocates for Youth, Links for youth to numerous outreach programs nationally and locally   Advocates for Youth   Who They Are Established in 1980 as the Center for Population Options, Advocates for Youth champions efforts to help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. Advocates believes it can best serve the field by boldly advocating for a more positive and realistic approach to adolescent sexual health.

 

What They Believe

Advocates for Youth envision a society that views sexuality as normal and healthy and treats young people as a valuable resource.

The core values of Rights, Respect, and Responsibility® (3Rs) animate this vision:

• RIGHTS: Youth have rights to accurate and complete sexual health information, confidential reproductive and sexual health services, and a secure stake in the future.
• RESPECT: Youth deserve respect. Today, young people are largely perceived as part of the problem. Valuing young people means they are part of the solution and are included in developing programs and policies that affect their well-being.
• RESPONSIBILITY: Society has the responsibility to provide young people with the tools they need to safeguard their sexual health, and young people have the responsibility to protect themselves from too-early childbearing and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.

 

How They Are Different Advocates for Youth is the only organization that works both in the United States and in developing countries with a sole focus on adolescent reproductive and sexual health. Advocates for Youth occupies a unique niche because it: Brings youth development strategies to the field of adolescent sexual health and sexual health strategies to the field of youth development

• Integrates strategies related to STIs, HIV/AIDS, and teen pregnancy prevention, fields that often operate in isolation from one another
• Uses its domestic and international work for learning about and disseminating lessons across borders
• Provides printed and electronic resources, technical assistance, and training to promote research-based best practices in the field of adolescent sexual health